Chadivision

I didn't realize that anyone was already doing a show about classic gaming. I'll check it out. Thanks.

I listen to internet radio at wsradio.ws and I saw a banner that said that they are looking for new talk show hosts. You can go to http://www.wsradio.com/about.htm for more information. I was thinking that it would be cool to have a classic video game show. I'm really not interested in hosting a show, but I would definately listen to one.

Does anyone know if Todd is registered at Atari Age?

How do all of you play your homebrews on other systems? I use the Cuttle Cart for the 2600. Are there similar devices for NES, Gameboy Advance, Sega Genesis, etc.?

"The market has grown up. There's no market for bedroom programmers anymore," Good thing I wrote Backfire in my den instead of the bedroom.

That should work pretty well for this game. I did use fractional pixel motion for the guns and the ships. The UFOs always move a 2 pixels per frame, but I could adjust that pretty easily. I don't have a PAL TV. If I post the .bin can you test it for me. I don't have a lot of time to work on this right now, but I would like to have a PAL version, so I'll try to get to it as soon as I can.

I had not really thought about making a PAL version, but that would be good idea. To be honest with you, I don't really know how to convert it. I think I'll have to see if anyone on the Stella list can help me. I plan to release the source code as soon as I get a chance to clean up the comments a little bit.

When I emailed Al about making the cartridges, he mentioned that there is a contest going on right now, but that we could probably start the label contest in about 2 weeks. I don't remember what the current contest is. I've been so busy lately that I haven't really been keeping current on everything that is going on at this site, so I'm not sure which contest he was referring to.

I had originally planned to make different kinds of enemies. I was thinking about making one that accelerated and decelerated, but I realized that the game was pretty difficult as it is and I didn't want to make it too frustrating (just frustrating enough to keep you playing). The ships do get slightly faster with each level. I never liked it when there is a big difference in difficulty between one level and the next. I also didn't want to make a game where the difficulty maxes out before the game is over. That is the one thing that I don't like about Atlantis. That is a hard game on the upper levels, but about half way to rolling the counter it gets to a point where it isn't getting any harder. I always loved how they did the difficulty in Pac Man (Atari 8 bit, or arcarde version.) The ghosts get a little faster each level and you don't really relize how fast they have gotten until you start a new game on the first level. In Backfire, the ships start out moving at 1 pixel per frame. Your gun moves at 1.5 pixels per frame and the UFOs move at 2 pixels per frame. Each level, the ship's speed increses by 1/32 of a pixel per frame (I think that's right, I may have gone with 1/16. I'd have to look at the code again to be sure). I guess the point of all of this is that if anyone would like the game to get more difficult faster, I could increase the speed increment for each level, but after testing it, I like it the way it is. What does everyone else think? By the way, let me know if it runs on the Supercharger. I think that the game is much more user friendly on an actual Atari.

Yes, I am going to release cartirdges. I just have to write the manual and make some final adjustments to the game. I think that we are probably going to do a label contest. I emailed Albert about it, and we decided that we would wait until the current label contest is finished, that way people can submit artwork for both contests.

As for the double shot thing when the plane is near you, I'd say it's not really a bug or a feature. It looks like the shot goes through it, but what is happening is that when the ship is destroyed, your finger is still on the button, so another shot is fired immediately. It was something that I was planning on changing originally, but the more I played it, I started thinking that it added another twist to the game. I'm not overly attached to this idea though, so if enough people would like to change it, I could do that. Also, if you notice, when you shoot a UFO, the bullet passes through it and keeps going. I was planning on changing that, but I liked the possibility that you could hit a UFO and a ship in the same shot. Also, you need to be careful when going after UFOs because sometimes your shot bounces around in the middle and you can't fire again until it's done.

Originally I meant to make the active gun look different, but somehow I forgot to make that change. I think that would be a definate improvement. I'll change that before the final release. I don't own a supercharger, but from my understanding, only supercharger games will work on an unmodified one. This is a standard 4k game, so I doubt that it will run. I thought about a two player mode where you each control a gun, but I decided against it. Since this was my first real game, I wanted to keep it simple.

I'll see what I can come up with for the score screen, and I'll ask for help on the Stella list if I need to. I've been playing the game on an actual 2600 using my Cuttle Cart. Keep in mind that even though the emulators are very good, none of them are exactly the same as the actual system. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to release it on a cartridge, so I have done most of my testing on a real Atari 2600. I did check it on Z26 every once in a while to make sure that it is playable in and emulator. I will agree that it is a lot harder using the keyboard. Also, emulators usually respond to player input slightly slower than the Atari does. In a lot of games it isn't really noticable, but Backfire is a pure reflex/coordination type of game. Has anyone tried this using a Cuttle Cart, or a Supercharger? I think that the rumble effect will not bother you as much when you play it on the actual system. I always try to shoot the ships before they get that close, but if they do make it to the last line, I am normally successful about 2 out of 3 times when playing on an actual Atari. I just didn't want to make it so all you had to do was wait until the ship got to point blank range and shoot. It would be impossible to miss. On the other hand, I didn't want you to get killed without having one last chance to save your gun. Here is a gameplay tip that might help. When your gun is rumbling, position your gun directly under (or over depending on which gun) a barrier, wait until the ship is in front of you, and fire. That way if you miss, the reflected shot might hit it. This basically doubles your chances of hitting it. Make sure that you start moving the gun out of the way after you shoot, because you might end up shooting yourself. Would anyone else like for the game to start with 5 lives? I'm not overly attached to the number 3. I have found that once I got good at hitting the UFOs (which take a lot of practice) I can get plenty of extra lives from shooting the blue UFOs. I have had more than 10 lives at a time. Usually the thing that determines how well I do is how many green UFOs I shoot (the one that wipes out the barriers). If you notice, the levels get progressively harder as you go on because there are more barriers and fewer clear paths to shoot through. If you hit the green UFO (the colors might be a little off in your particular emulator) it not only wipes out the barriers, but it also sets the barrier difficulty back to what it was at the beginning of the game. That buys you some more time to shoot more UFOs and get a higher score. The good news is that no matter what level you are on, the UFOs always move at the same speed, so if you get the timing down, it's just a matter of whether you have a clear shot or not.

I appreciate everyone's input. You're giving me some really good suggestions. Right now, the title screen uses just about all of the 128 bytes of RAM, so I'll need to find a way to free up a few bytes (which is tough, but it should be workable) in order to remember the high score. Putting the score on the title screen probably won't work in this case, but I may be able to toggle back and forth between screens like Big Player mentioned. If I get some time, I'll try to work on it some more this weekend. I'll keep you posted. Before releasing the cartridges, I will at least make the score stay on the screen longer after the game ends. This approach wouldn't show the high score, but it would show you the most recent score and give you time to write it down. Speaking of scores, I just got a new high score of 5,195

One thing that makes the game a little easier is the fact that the UFOs always move at the same speed. The ships gradually get faster, but if you can learn the timing for the UFOs, it's the same for every level. If anyone wants a training mode, let me know, otherwise I'll just leave it the way it is. Actually I just came up with a solution. I'm going to write a Backfire for beginners game and sell carts. I think I'll price them at $500 each. While I'm at it, maybe I could make a version of Dodge'em where I can actually get past the second level. I think what I will do make the game stay on the regular screen for a while before going back to the title screen, that way you can see what your final score was. I originally planned to add the score to the title screen, but it didn't work out. My Chadivision banner has to load 7 bytes of data per scanline (one for the stripe color, 5 bytes for the five copies of the player graphics that make up most of the text, and 1 byte for the ball which is the last pixel of the text). That is way too slow to do line by line as it's being displayed. What I ended up doing was writing a loop that loads it all into RAM after the title graphics are finished being drawn. To make a long story short (too late) My title screen uses a ton of RAM and processor cycles, and I barely got it to run the way it is. I could possibly try to fit it in, but not without some major changes to the title screen. The other option is to get rid of the Chadivision banner, but I spent so much time getting that thing to work that I would really hate to remove it, plus I think it's kind of funny. And isn't the point of all of this... for me to amuse myself (and hopefully you too)?

I most likely will return to Cyclostar at some point. I learned a lot while writing it, but I basically need to start from scartch. It's not so much that I'm stuck, as it is that I'm just burned out on it for right now, and I don't have a lot of time for programming projects. I agree, Backfire is pretty hard to play in an emulator. I designed it using my Cuttle Cart. I am definately going to release it in cartridge format as soon as possible. I have already emailed Albert about it. After the current label contest is finished, I think that we will do one for Backfire. I also have to write the instruction manual. When I was coming up with the concept for the game I had to decide what to do when the ship gets near you. The problem was that it would be too easy if you could just wait until the ship is right next to your gun. You would never miss. I solved this two ways. First, a ship that is right next to your gun is not worth any points and second, the rumble effect makes it a lot harder to hit, but you still have a chance. What would everyone think about me adding a practice mode, where the ships don't kill you, there are no barriers, and the UFO is on the screen all the time, that way you can get the timing down. I had the benefit of practicing the game before I added all of that stuff, so I guess I forgot how hard it really is. I'm just about out of ROM, but it wouldn't take that much more code, and I'm sure that I can find a few more bytes.

I know one that beats them all. The Cuttle Cart. (Unless Pitfall 2 is your favorite game because that it one of the few games that it can't play)

I'm glad you like it. Make sure that you don't score more that 3,500 points though. Right now I have the world record and I'd like to keep it that way!

Just press the fire button. I think it's CTRL in Z26. I have always hated those games that start by pressing the reset switch, then you have to make a mad dash for your chair before you get killed. When the game ends it will go back to the title screen, then just press the button again to start another game.

If you are using Windows XP (and possibly Windows 2000, I'm not sure), just download the .zip file. It will show up in windows explorer as a zipped folder. Click on extract all files and it will extract the file(s) and then just run it like any other .bin file. If you have an older version of Windows, you need to get Winzip from Winzip.com. It's been a while since I've been to the site, but I think they have a shareware version. You can use it to unzip .zip files. When you get that figured out, check out my post "Good news and bad news." I just posted a new homebrew game that I finished writing today. Hope this helps

Sorry for the double post. I just tried it and the .zip file worked. Let me know what kind of scores you get. One time I got about 3,500 and my business phone range so I had to quit (I know, I need to get my priorities in order). I'm done with the programming, but I'm open to suggestions as far as tweaking (colors, difficulty, etc.) Let me know what you think.

I'll give that I try. I hope this works. backfire.zip

I tried to post the binary but I got an error that said it was not allowed, but .bin was on the list of acceptable attachments. If anyone knows how to post a .bin file, or what I did wrong, let me know and I'll post it tonight. I just finished writing the game today and I just emailed AtariAge to let them know about it. I would like to have it available for sale as soon as possible, but since this is the first one I've done, I don't know how long it takes. If nothing else, I can put it on a website so that you can download it from there, but I don't have time tonight. I will check back with this message board in case anyone knows why I got that error. I know how to write 6502 assembly, but this internet message board stuff is apparently beyone me!

Bad news first. Any of you who have been waiting for me to complete Cyclostar will be disappointed. I didn't plan it very well and it basically needs to be completelly rewritten in order to make it work. I may come back to it at some point, but not anytime soon. I know that a few of you were looking forward to seeing Cyclostar completed (as was I). What I ended up with was a really cool looking demo of a UFO that flashes and fires out of four sides, but I don't have enough cycles during the kernal to put any more sprites on the screen. Now for the good news. I didn't want to announce the demise of Cyclostar until I had something to make up for it. I have just finished writing my first homebrew game entitled "Backfire". It's kind of like Atlantis for the mentally ill. I haven't written the instruction manual yet, but here are the basics. Description: You have two guns, one on the top of the screen and one on the bottom. To control the gun on the top of the screen, press up, to switch to the other gun, press down. Once you are controlling a gun, you can move horizontally and shoot. If you have a clear shot all the way accross the screen, you can accidentally blow up your own gun. Also if you shoot one of the barriers, your shot is reflected back at you and you have to get out of the way (hence the name Backfire). Scoring: There are four types of targets. The spaceships are worth 10 points if you shoot them when they are on one of the center lines, 0 points if they are on a line right next to your gun, or 5 points anywhere else on the screen. There are also red, blue, and green UFOs. The red ones are worth 100 points, the blue ones give you an extra life, and the green ones clear out all of the barriers and set you back to an easier level where you have more clear shots. If you don't shoot any green UFOs for a while, the levels get ridiculously hard. How to win: You can't! This is Atari. You play till you lose. Them's the rules! Difficulty switches, select switch, and BW/Color switch have no effect. Only the 1st joystick is used. I don't have a website yet, but I have emailed the .bin file to Atariage so they can post it and I'm planning on having them sell cartridges, and do a label contest. So to all of you Cosmic Ark fans, I'm sorry about Cyclostar. To all of you Atlantis fans, I hope you enjoy Backfire. Chad Lare aka "Chadivision"

Things you never hear an Atari fan say... "I went to the flea market, but all they had were copies of Waterworld and some unreleased prototypes." "The only thing I don't like about E.T. is that there are not enough pits to fall into." "I hate programming homebrew games. I'm just in it for the money and the chicks."